Stirring Up the Dust

First let me say, “No, I have not fallen off the face of the earth.”  As you know, blogging takes time and there are days that my real job, my husband (who has just taken on a bi-vocational pastor’s position), my two children, and my National Board Ceritification process just take all that I have to give.  Life as we know it limits me to only so much in a day.  However, today I’m back in the blogging world.

Let me tell you about a new project happening in my system that I am rather excited about.  It’s called Talladega County’s 21st Century Learners project.  The project was started by a group of teachers from Talladega County who have been involved in a project with the Alabama Best Practices Center on 21st Century Learning.  Sheryl Nussbaum Beach has been working with teachers from Alabama for the past three years.  This particular team of teachers is organizing the same type program for our local school district.  A mentor team has been established to facilitate four sessions second semester.   The team members are Robbie Stewart, Amanda Spurling, Kim Knight, Karen Pemberton, and Jennifer Barnett.   The first training session is January 2nd and I have been asked to be a co-presenter on blogging.  The first training session will cover blogs, wikis, web tools, and web wonders.  These first sessions are designed for high school and middle school, with elementary to follow in the fall.

At this point, I am unsure of the number of teachers across our county that will be involved.  Every school is sending a team of teachers, so regardless of the number, the impact of this initiative will be felt system-wide.  It’s exciting to see this happening.  Two schools within our district are part of the 21st Century Learning initiative of which Sheryl Nussbaum Beach has helped to implement.  I have often lamented the fact that my school was not a part and that I had “missed the boat” on this opportunity.  Thank goodness it is coming full circle and I have the chance to participate to some extent.

 It should be a wild, fun-filled, education ride.  I expect loads of dust to be stirred up across the county as we go.  I’ll keep you posted on our progress.

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